Belief that the United States is winning the War on Terror has plummeted to its lowest level in

over 10 years of regular tracking. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds
that just 27% of Likely U.S. Voters now believe the United States and its allies are winning the
War on Terror. Thats down eight points from 35% in April and 47% a year ago. This figure hit a
high of 62% in February 2009 just after President Obamas inauguration, then steadily
deteriorated until the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011 when it rebounded into the 50s.
Thirty-six percent (36%) think the terrorists are winning that war, the highest level of doubt since
the late Bush years in 2007. Twenty-nine percent (29%) say neither side is winning. (To see
survey question wording, click here.) In April, 39% said the United States is safer than before
the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but 41% disagreed. It was the highest level of
doubt in three years since just before the killing of bin Laden. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of
voters now consider terrorist attacks a bigger threat to the United States than economic or
military attacks. Thats up from 30% in October of last year despite the Boston marathon
bombing just a few months earlier. Fifty-one percent (51%) still view economic attacks as the
bigger threat, but thats down from 60% last fall. Just three percent (3%) regard military attacks
from other nations as the bigger threat to this country. Fifty-nine percent (59%) believe there is a
global conflict between the Muslim world and Western civilization. Seventeen percent (17%)
disagree, but 24% are not sure. These findings are consistent with earlier surveying. But just
44% now think the United States is too involved in the Middle East, down from 54% last
October. Twenty-one percent (21%) say we are not involved enough in that region, an 11-point
jump from 10% in the last survey. Twenty-four percent (24%) rate the U.S. level of involvement
in the Middle East as about right. Eleven percent (11%) are undecided. Still, just 13% think the
United States should be the worlds policeman. Seventy-three percent (73%) oppose America
in that role. Fourteen percent (14%) are undecided. These attitudes have changed little in
surveys for the last four years. The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on July 27-28,
2014 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a
95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse
Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology. Voters have long expressed little enthusiasm for
getting more involved in Middle East politics, but they are slightly less likely to think this
involvement hurts both the region and the United States. Men have more confidence in how
America is doing in the War on Terror than women do. Voters 40 and over are more convinced
that the terrorists are winning. Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to think the United
States and its allies are winning the War on Terror. Most GOP voters (55%) now believe the
terrorists are winning. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 25% think the U.S.
and its allies are winning, while 36% feel the terrorists have the upper hand. Most Democrats
and unaffiliated voters still see economic attacks as the bigger threat to the United States.
Republicans now rate terrorist attacks slightly ahead of economic ones as the bigger danger.
Republicans also feel much more strongly than the others that there is a global conflict between
the Muslim world and Western civilization. Twenty-five percent (25%) of GOP voters think
America should be the worlds policeman, a view shared by only 11% of Democrats and six
percent (6%) of unaffiliateds. However, 60% of all voters think Americas political leaders send
U.S. soldiers into harms way too often. Voters who think America should be the worlds
policeman are the most likely to think the terrorists are winning the War on Terror. Thirty-eight
percent (38%) of voters nationwide think the president is doing a good or excellent job in the
area of national security, but slightly more (41%) still rate his performance as poor. That's
generally in line with findings for the past year. Many hoped that the Arab Spring protests that

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began three years ago would lead to a new era of democracy in a number of Islamic countries,
but U.S. voters now see that as increasingly unlikely and think the changes there have been
bad for America. Voters strongly believe that radical Islam remains a threat to the United States,
and a sizable number thinks the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have only made the problem
worse. Americans believe US losing War on Terror, says polling

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